this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026
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Electronics
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tl;dr: I'm reasonably sure this will work as is.
The following comments involving my personal opinions might be most useful for more complex projects:
While I also try to isolate building blocks in my schematics, I think it's sometimes beneficial to have some visible connections using wires. Your schematic isn't very complex, but I still needed to jump around a bit to understand how current flows from the USB connection to the output. I would arrange the building blocks so that current flows from left to right and include one wire that starts at the USB jack, passes by the CH224K and its bypass cap, through the FET to the terminal block, so you can read the current flow like you would a line of text.
Layout:
Regarding both the schematic and layout: run the ERC/DRC and fix all errors and warnings. Most of it is noise, but hidden beneath that, serious issues can hide. Be sure that you don't miss anything important there.
Another idea that might be out of scope for your project: You could add optional 5.1k pull-down resistors on the CC lines and a solder jumper from VBUS to VOUT. Then you could use the board even without the CH224K and the FET if you only need 5V.
That's an AMAZING comment, thank you so much!
Re: schematics. Will take this in consideration next time
Re: constraints and DRC. I haven’t done this yet because I’m really scared of the result (actually, I ran DRC and it gave me minor things). I didn’t want to invest too much time in something I didn’t know if it would work
Re: silkscreen. I placed designators there for space reasons, I will try and see if they would fit if smaller. Also, metadata in the silkscreen seems a good idea.
Re: U1. I was worried that moving the IC would mean rerouting everything. I noticed and thought "too bad", but I will try this
Re: SMD handsoldering. I never tried this before, so I figured that for me 1206 would be a good place to start. 0603 would not be comfortable 😆, I envy your colleague
Re: C1. Will do!
Re: CC resistors. It’s a great idea!
Edit: a hot plate would be needed for the CH224, right? Or I could try PCBA and go for 0603s
Edit 2: So it is fine to use vias to connect those two ground planes this way?
I tried to implement all of your suggestions. Would you mind having a look now?
Edit: BTW DRC passes (apart from an error with the thermal island in a GND copper zone and a lot of warnings about text size and thickness)